“Cloud computing” refers to the access of computing resources and data via a network infrastructure, such as the Internet. Online service providers may offer a wide range of services that may be hosted in the cloud; and such services may include search, maps, email, and outsourced enterprise applications. Further, online service providers may strive to achieve high levels of end-to-end cloud service performance to sustain and grow their user base. The performance of cloud services has direct impact on user satisfaction. For example, poor end-to-end response times, e.g., long page load times (PLTs), may result in low service usage, which in turn may undermine service income.
In order to achieve high levels of end-to-end performance, online service providers may implement performance boosting changes. For example, performance boosting changes may include improvements to the client-side rendering capability of web browsers, improved backend server-side processing capabilities, and the reduction in the domain name system (DNS) resolution time and/or network round-trip time (RTT). However, cloud computing service implementations are often complex, spanning components on end-system clients, back-end servers, as well as network paths. Thus, performance boosting changes may vary greatly in feasibility, cost and profit generation.